Five days before Election Day in the UK, terrorists have once again challenged the UK. Will this help or hinder the premiership of Theresa May?
The UK has been challenged by three terrorist attacks since March. On Saturday, June 3, 2017, five days before Election Day, the latest of these terrorists hit London.
The Saturday night attack came about less than two weeks after the Manchester attack at the concert of Ariana Grande. It is clear that the timing is aimed at challenging the UK state, and in the hope of dismantling a strong political leadership just five days before Election Day.
Can Theresa May protect the state?
A logical question that many UK voters ahead of Election Day on June 8th will have is whether or not the Tories can protect Britain.
Irrespective of the answer, the truth is that the predictability of these types of attacks is not easy to make. The problem is not so much the leader in power, but the failure of intelligence in the context of the terrorist attacks. We have seen this from Pearl Harbor to 9/11 to June 3, 2017.
Following the Manchester attack, it was clear that the new ISIS attacks were imminent and Theresa May has done every single thing in her power in order to keep Britain safe. The threat level has been increased to critical and the military was mobilized for the first time in ten years. However, this CT measure was not welcomed by the Labour Party, who used the terrorist attack to formulate their own blaming rhetoric against the Tories in order to gain public support ahead of the UK Election.
The fact that the Labor is using terrorist attacks to undermine the leadership of the Conservatives is expected but at the same time, utterly futile populist rhetoric. As any CT expert will tell you, these types of attacks are extremely difficult to stop, irrespective of who is in power.
Timing of the terrorist attack
The timing of the attack corresponds with the UK Election on Thursday and is happening during Ramadan. The symbolic nature of the attacks is twofold and it aims at the displacement not only of the UK state but also of the liberal world order. The nature of such asymmetrical warfare is not only about ISIS aiming at the geographical territories ( Raqqa, Mosul) but also about gaining the power in numbers in public support across the Muslim world.
A new normal
President Trump has sent out public support to the UK and at the same time used an opportunity to reiterate his EO regarding extra safety measures with the blanket travel ban.
As the new dawn arises on London, the world is awaking to “a new normal”. Terrorist attacks have become our daily reality. And with this reality, we may soon expect to see the military on the streets of Britain as a permanent fixture. If elected, is this CT decision something Labour will be able to uphold? Tread carefully.